• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.564-577
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• 2017

We investigated whether external environmental factors acted as a trigger for flowering in the draft bamboo (Sasa borealis (Hack.) Makino) blooming area of Mt. Baekwoon located in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province. We then considered the cause for flowering, flowering patterns and life history strategies of the draft bamboo based on the investigation. There were no differences in soil, physical conditions, and light amount between the draft bamboo flowering and non-flowering areas. The precipitation and temperature of the areas in Korea and Japan where it blossomed from 2014 to 2017 were similar to the normal year values (for the past 30 years). Moreover, most of the draft bamboo died after flowering on a large scale, but some did not, or some culms were developed again. In other words, the draft bamboo bloomed simultaneously regardless of external environmental factors, and most of the culms were dead, but some were left alive. Therefore, it is considered that the flowering is triggered by the specific genes (referred as to clock genes) expressed periodically by a biological clock rather than the external environmental factors. Meanwhile, the draft bamboos generally bloom on a large scale by synchronizing with other ones in the distance but may also bloom several times separately on a small scale. It may be a kind of an insurance system established to disperse the risk of failed sexual propagation when flowering once in a lifetime. The results reveal that the long-period monocarpy of the draft bamboo has been strengthened to optimize the sexual propagation to overcome the increased environmental instability caused by the expansion of distribution of tropical bamboos and bamboo species to the temperate regions.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.419-433
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• 2016

A floristic study was conducted 23 times from March 2010 to May 2016 on Mt. Yongbongsan and Mt. Suamsan region of Chungcheongnam-do which lies across Sapgyo-eup, Deoksan-myeon Yesan-gun, and Hongbuk-myeon Hongseong-gun. Based on voucher speciemens, list of vascular plants found in this area were contained 532 taxa in total including 105 families, 312 genera, 468 species, 4 subspecies, 47 varieties, and 13 forma. The 8 taxa were Korean endemic plants such as Populus tomentiglandulosa T.B.Lee, Clematis brachyura Maxim, C. trichotoma Nakai, Indigofera koreana Ohwi, Forsythia koreana (Rehder) Nakai, Paulownia coreana Uyeki, Weigela subsessilis (Nakai) L.H.Bailey, Aster koraiensis Nakai. 4 taxa of rare plants designated by the Korea Forest Service such as Taxus cuspidata Siebold & Zucc., Lithospermum arvense L., Allium senescens L., and Iris ensata var. spontanea (Makino) Nakai. Endangered plants designated by the Ministry of Environment was not found in this study. The 11 taxa of floristic regional indicator plants in 3^rd to 5^th degree were found. 68 taxa naturalized plants were found and the naturalized ratio was 12.8% while 21.2% of urbanized ratio which is regarded quite high.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.166-198
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• 2020

The flora of vascular plants in the Gibaeksan Mt. County Park and its neighboring mountains, located at the boundary between Geochang-gun and Hamyang-gun in Gyeongsangnam-do province in Korea, were surveyed for a total 46 times from April to September of 2011, in July of 2012, and from April of 2015 to August of 2018. The result of this survey revealed 659 taxa composed of 107 families, 346 genera, 583 species, 14 subspecies, 46 varieties and 6 forms. Among them, 25 taxa were endemic plants to Korea, and 18 taxa were rare and endangered plants of Korea. The floristic regional indicator plants including cultivated plants were 5 taxa of grade V, 5 taxa of grade IV, 29 taxa of grade III, 30 taxa of grade II and 38 taxa of grade I. Forty-three taxa of alien plants were found in this area. In addition, 500 taxa out of a total of 649 taxa were categorized by usage into eight groups, including among others an edible group containing 257 taxa, a medicinal group containing 206, a pasturing group containing 220, and an ornamental group containing 84, with some taxa belonging to more than one group. The flora of this surveyed area belongs to the southern province among the floral provinces of the Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.140-159
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to construct the information of natural resources and the basic data for assessing the Korean natural environment by objective surveying and analysing vascular plants distributed in the main survey sites of Hannam-Jeongmaek. The vascular plants were summarized, numbering 488 taxa including 102 families, 300 genera, 428 species, 4 subspecies, 50 varieties and 6 forms. The rare plants were 4 taxa including Aristolochia contorta(LC), Viola albida(LC), Chionanthus retusus(LC) and Tylophora floribunda(VU). The Korean endemic plants were 7 taxa including Salix koriyanagi, Clematis brachyura, Clematis trichotoma, Philadelphus schrenckii, Paulownia coreana, Weigela subsessilis and Cirsium setidens. The specific plants by floristic region were 29 taxa including 1 taxa of grade IV, 3 taxa of grade III, 5 taxa of grade II and 20 taxa of grade I. The naturalized plants were 52 taxa including Fallopia dentatoalata, Rumex obtusifolius, Helianthustuberosus, Dactylis glomerata, Phleum pratense and so forth. The invasive alien plants were 7 taxa including Rumex acetosella, Sicyos angulatus, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Ambrosia trifida, Aster pilosus, Eupatorium rugosum and Lactuca scariola.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.247-256
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• 2018

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) are widely used drugs for lowering blood lipid levels and preventing cardiovascular diseases. HMG-CoA reductase is a key enzyme to control the biosynthesis of cholesterol. We have tested HMG-CoA reductase-inhibitory activity on the flavonoids of 98 species in vitro. The anti-hypercholesterolemic activities of flavonoids were studied using an HMG-CoA reductase assay equipped with a 96-well UV plate. This assay was based on the spectrophotometric measurement of the decrease in absorbance, which represents the oxidation of NADPH by the catalytic subunit of HMG-CoA reductase in the presence of the substrate HMG-CoA. Among the clinically available statins, pravastatin was used as a positive control. Among the tested compounds, kuraridin, morin and sophoraflavanone G showed strong inhibition activities. In particular, morin and sophoraflavanone G inhibited HMG-CoA reductase by 45.0% and 54.6% at a concentration of $10{\mu}g/ml$, and the $IC_{50}$ values were calculated to $13.31{\mu}g/ml$ and $7.26{\mu}g/ml$ respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.376-385
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• 2016

Through the vegetation survey of Geumcheon Valley on the south-facing slope and the other side of the valley, Jedanggol on the north-facing slope in Taebaeksan Provincial Park, the characteristics of vegetation structure and change by slope and altitude were examined. From Geumcheon Valley(850m) via the ridge(1,380m) to Jedanggol(950m), thirty plots at intervals of 50m altitude were selected for investigation. According to the results of the analysis, Acer pictum subsp. mono, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Betula davurica and Lindera obtusiloba were observed only in the south-facing slope, while Sorbus commixta, Prunus padus, Prunus maackii and Acer komarovii were observed only in the north-facing slope. However, Quercus mongolica, Betula costata, Cornus controversa, Tilia amurensis, Acer pseudosieboldianum and Magnolia sieboldii were found to be distributed over both the slopes. The analysis of ordination found that the vegetation was distributed discontinuously by slope. Especially, the vegetation of the north-facing slope appeared to be affected by the direction that the slope faces. Quercus mongolica community, which is the dominant species at an altitude of over 1,200m, was determined to be affected by elevation factor. The maximum age of the major trees was as follows: Betula costata and Quercus mongolica were estimated to be 53-year-old and 113-year-old respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.377-395
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• 1993

Habitat types, community structure and population characteristics of Koelreuteria paniculata were investigated in Mt. Wolak, Chungbuk and Naesokdong, Daegu, which are natural habitats of the species in inland region of Korea, and its origin was discussed. Habitats of Koelreuteria paniculata were classified to 3 types: sand bar formed by the sands flooded in the course of flow of the mountain stream (Type 1). crevice on the rock bed within the mountain stream (Type 2) and crevice of the rock around the edge of mountain stream (Type 3). Most Koelreuteria paniculata communities in Mt. Wolak site were composed of 3 layers of subtree layer, shrub layer and herb layer and that of Daegu site was 4 layers including tree layer. In the floristic composition of the Koelreuteria paniculata community, plants occurring frequently in the wet and open site, such as Zelkova serrata and Fraxinus rhynchoph-vlla showed high frequency. Frequency distribution of diameter at ground surface of Koelreutrria paniculata showed reversed J-shaped type. It was supposed that expansion of Koelreuteria paniculata community in Mt. Wolak site might be accomplished by the flow of the stream. Many saplings capable of becoming a successor of mature trees in Daegu site in near degenerating phase were established on the forest floor of the Koelreuteria paniculata community. From this result, it was supposed that these saplings originated from the seeds dispersed from a seed tree might form the Koelreuteria paniculata community of the next generation. On the other hand, the origin of Koelreutevia paniculata in inland sites was explained by two hypotheses: the one was that Koelreuteria paniculata might be transplanted by human and the other was that the present site might be native habitat of the community.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.94-99
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to utilize hydroculture by the vital means of the improvement of indoor relative humidity. This experiment employed a search of the effect of Scindapsus aureus and Syngonium podophyllum that are generalized for hydroculture foliage plant by a difference of volume ratio, pot media and plants species. In the case of Scindapsus aureus, relative humidity was high for growth chamber in which plants presented as opposed to control growth chambers in which there were no plants. Although relative humidity was 25% in control chamber, there was an increase of 40% at a 2% volume ratio, 45% at a 3% volume ratio and 50% at a 5% volume ratio. The relative humidity of Syngonium podophyllum was 40% at a 2% volume ratio, 44% at a 3% volume ratio and 46% at a 5% volume ratio, while the control treatment was 25% relative humidity in hydroculture. Both the control treatment and hydroball pot in a hydroball container were high at first. As time progressed, artificial soil pots in water containers was similar when housed within the control chamber by about 45% relative humidity. Hydroball pots in water container had about 30% relative humidity. Ardisia pusilla of hydroball poIt in hydroball container had about 38% relative humidity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1193-1199
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to show the antioxidant properties of chestnut (Castanea crenata) bur extracts fermented by Lactobacillus casei. The chestnut has been used as a cosmetic material in Korea for many years. This study showed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) were inhibited by the fermentation materials of chestnut bur extracts. The antioxidant activities were analyzed and expressed as EDA, ABTS, reducing power, SOD-like activity, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, and nitric oxide scavenging ability. The antioxidant activities of fermentation materials from L. casei of chestnut bur extracts were higher than those of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and ascorbic acid (AA). Therefore, we expect that fermentation materials from L. casei of chestnut bur extracts are valuable resources as natural antioxidants and functional cosmetics ingredients.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.109-117
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• 1982

In order to investigate the annual mean equilibrium moisture content (EMC), the equilibrium moisture content investigated were the desorbed - and adsorbed equilibrium moisture content with two end-matched samples for red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.), Douglas fir (Pseadotsuga menziesii Franco), oak (Quercus mongolica Fischer) and red lauan (Shorea spp.) in instrument screen at forest experiment station located in Seoul, Chuncheon, Daejeon, Kyungju, Jinju and Gwangju area for four years (1970. 1 - 1973. 12). The results summarized were as follows. 1. The annual mean desorbed equilibrium moisture content of red pine, Douglar fir, oak and red lauan were 14.8, 13.7, 14.0 and 14.2 percent respectively and higher than the annual mean adsorbed equilibrium moisture content of those species. 2. The annual mean desorbed - and adsorbed equilibrium moisture content in central areas (Seoul, Chuncheon, Daejeon) were higher than those in southern areas (Kyungju, Jinju, Gwangju). 3. On the whole, the monthly mean desorbed - and adsorbed equilibrium moisture content were lowest in April and highest in August though difference of month in areas. 4. Average and range of annual national equilibrium moisture content was 12.3 ~ 14.2 ~ 15.7 percent for desorbed equilibrium moisture content and 11.3 ~ 13.2 ~ 14.7 percent for adsorbed equilibrium moisture content and 12.0 ~ 14.1 ~ 16.4 percent for calculated equilibrium moisture content based on tempera.